Smallest OPTO Sensor for Model Railways?

[@wimbletrain]

Great stuff Tony. I would be very interested in knowing how it goes with the shortened optic fibre as Paul suggested. I also found it useful in terms of adding lights to some older locos I purchased second hand. Didn't know they used the optical fibre to extend the leds into the body. Cheers, John

[@TheHeritageLine]

Hi John, I will certainly be trying Paul's idea and I'll put a quick update in my next video. I also have plans to add lighting to some older locos but not sure when I'll get around to it 😁 All the best Tony

[@wimbletrain]

@@TheHeritageLine Are you considering doing a video on the loco light fitting?. I would very much like to see how its done because I have no idea!

[@TheHeritageLine]

​ What type of loco would you like to see? I will have to hard wire a loco first. Then I will add lighting to it, but probably wont be till March.

[@wimbletrain]

@@TheHeritageLine Hi Tony, any kind of diesel I guess, I have a Farish Class 52 and 25 that need lights. I have already put DCC decoders into them. They are the split chassis type. Chees John

[@TheHeritageLine]

@@wimbletrain I have a class 25 to hard wire so I'll do it on that, just got to get a few other projects out of the way first. All the best Tony

[@chien-tsu6081]

Great video and highly informative. I would suggest putting the fibre optics at an angle to allow the lights to bounce of the bottom of the wagon towards the receiver. Given the narrowness of the light source and the the short distance between the source and the wagon, there's a good chance the light is simply shining straight up and straight back down again missing the receiver altogether

[@TheHeritageLine]

I did try a few ways but I think the fibre optic would probably need to be to a higher grade and also polished which is far beyond the scope of model railways and more into science. But At least the small smd sensors worked well 😀 All the best Tony

[@l.rod2827]

Fiber optic use is a great idea and would work if the angle of the transmitter and receiving optic ends are aligned correctly. This is because the beam of light is very focused when sent via the optics. Normally through the standard LED's the light is very scattered. You would have to determine the angles and create a jig to properly drill the optics into the track. The trick is the height between the optics and the target (loco/rolling stock). Try it again and see if you can get it to work.

[@TheHeritageLine]

Thankyou for this information, very useful. I may try it again in the future, All the best Tony.

[@l.rod2827]

@@TheHeritageLine I recommend a multimode with the largest core diameter fiber optic 50um> possible

[@medwaymodelrailway7129]

Great layout .Enjoy thanks

[@TheHeritageLine]

Thanks so much!, still a long way to go 😀 All the best Tony

[@medwaymodelrailway7129]

@@TheHeritageLine Thanks tony

[@LaytonJunction]

very very nice enjoyed your video this is the hobby at its best keep safe all the best al 👍👍😁🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️

[@TheHeritageLine]

Thank you, glad you liked it! All the best Tony

[@cadillacescalade5428]

Hi, I was just wondering where you got the SMD sensors? I've searched on ebay and Google an found nothing,....I'm wanting to switch mine over this was a great idea, I really liked the fiber optic that was a great idea too I wished that would have worked that would have been perfect. But yeah I was looking around for the smd sensors and only found Resistors 0508.

[@TheHeritageLine]

Hi are you Jedidiah from the Arduino FB group? I have replied on their but these are the ones I used www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323764291337?var=512755917998 and this one www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323764292037?var=512755924802 Hope this helps or puts you on the right trail, All the best Tony.

[@cadillacescalade5428]

@TheHeritageLine HI, good afternoon and Yes sir I am. Thank You for the reply this is a very interesting video you did I would have loved if the fiber optics would have worked I would have never thought.

[@grahamblow9978]

Did you try adjusting the sensitivity pot when using the fibre optics?

[@TheHeritageLine]

yes I tried all sorts, but may try again in the future. All the best Tony.

[@johnnyrobertson5971]

Great video and will solve a problem for my signal install. Where did you get the SMD? Thank you for sharing the video.

[@TheHeritageLine]

The smd's I got from E bay, not as hard as you think to solder, the key is to add flux to the smd before adding solder. Glad you found it useful All the best and a Happy Christmas. Tony

[@johnnyrobertson5971]

@@TheHeritageLine A very Merry Christmas too you and thank you so much for the information you have shared with me. Will look at EBay and get some on order. I will need about 100 of them and your wonderful video same me time and labor. Once again thank you for sharing your great video and a wonderful safe Happy New Year!!!

[@johnnyrobertson5971]

@@TheHeritageLine Hello again Tony and have a question if I may ask of you and I looked on EBay for the 0805 sensors but can’t find them. Could you possibly provide me the sealer s info. Thank you so much. Johnny

[@TheHeritageLine]

@@johnnyrobertson5971 these are the search terms to use KINGBRIGHT - KP-2012F3C - LED, IR, 0805, 940NM Price for 5 (this is for the Infra red led) 0805 smd infrared receiver pt17-21c l41 tr8 940nm phototransistor 10/20/50pcs (this is the receiver) I would suggest just getting a few first and experimenting to make sure it does what you want, I found if you have a bright light above it can interfere, but you can also adjust the sensitivity on the little boards. Hope this helps.

[@johnnyrobertson5971]

@@TheHeritageLine Tony, thank you ever so much and keep the videos coming. Johnny

[@Wickford_N_Gauge]

Hi Tony, Another thought provoking and informative video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Fascinating insight into how useful those SMD things really are becoming 👀 Wonder if the fibre optic didn’t work because you went beyond its “sensitive” range 🤔 if you put the large LED’s just below based board level with the fibre optic cable only being the dept of the board would that work? Save on fiddly soldering 😂😂😂 Many thanks for sharing and very best wishes from County Wicklow ☘️

[@TheHeritageLine]

Good idea Paul I'll try that with the fibre optic 😀 I'll let you know if it worked! All the best Tony

[@naivegauge]

Excellent work. Shame the fibre optic did not work as that looked really good. Did you try adjusting the POT? Presumably there was less light to work with so you needed to adjust the sensitivity. Is there a link for the fibre optic you were working with? I would be interested to have a play with that still myself - I am thinking of lights on locos / brake vans.

[@TheHeritageLine]

Yes i tried adjusting pot, Paul gave me an idea to try so I'll see if that works just search for 1mm fibre optic cable on evil bay it also comes in different sizes I have got some which are 0.5mm. All the best Tony.

[@davebarker9144]

Just a thought from a complete novice. Would it be possible to a similar arrangement to your fibre method ie 2 different sized holes drilled directly into your baseboard with the led and receiver positioned almost through the board but with just a small hole at the top or even a thin card with 2 x 1mm holes between the board and the track.

[@TheHeritageLine]

I did so many different experiments trying to get it to work, I think I did try that but to no avail, If I ever have any need for an opto sensor I will certainly be trying more experiments. All the best Tony.

[@w.rustylane5650]

This is what I need to activate my crossing bucks when a train approaches an intersection at a crossing and one to turn it off once the train leaves the intersection. I have an Arduino but I need the code. My flasher for the crossing bucks is powered by a 9 volt wall wart. Cheers from eastern TN

[@TheHeritageLine]

Sounds like a great project! I'm think of using them to power a magnetic un-coupler for a shunting layout 😁. All the best Tony.

[@PaulSmith-pl7fo]

Hi Tony. Nice bit of research. BTW: What if not all your viewers are guys?

[@TheHeritageLine]

Thankyou, Everybody are all guys to me 😀 I just use it as a general term for the audience, I don't mean it in it's proper form 😁 All the best Tony

[@johnm8342]

Girls say guys to each other all the time, at least my granddaughter does… great video… I had to look up what an AWS was…. Interesting. I’ll be using 3mm for HO scale. Cut the larger 5mm ones off the sensor and solder leads to the 3mm… also will use an arduino to add signaling… wish me luck

[@DuncSargentsKarstValleyRR]

Good work! --dunc

[@TheHeritageLine]

Looks like I will have to do a quick update to finally put the fibre optic to bed, glad you enjoyed it. All the best Tony

[@Hal-Zuzzu_Model_Railway]

Please don't show me these things - I get hooked so easily and my mind starts inventing reasons for buying them and creating ways to use them even if not needed hahahaha

[@TheHeritageLine]

Hi Joe, I have no real use for these at the minute but I couldn't resist having a play they open up so many avenues. All the best Tony

[@Hal-Zuzzu_Model_Railway]

@@TheHeritageLine Exactly my point :) I use a BEC (Battery Elimination Circuit) to drop down to 5v for up to 2A or 3A load. I have plenty of these because I used them on my RC cars and also because, like the OPTO sensors, they are handy to have for those ideas that come to mind when you are bored :)

[@Hal-Zuzzu_Model_Railway]

Got a link for your sensors, please?

[@TheHeritageLine]

@@Hal-Zuzzu_Model_Railway I put a list of items in comments just search for them in ebay or amazon :)

[@Hal-Zuzzu_Model_Railway]

​@@TheHeritageLine Found them on Amazon and eBay now. Thanks :)

[@anthonyjamesroyle9591]

FIBRE OPTICS AND HEAT SHRINK WORKS A LOT EASIER

[@TheHeritageLine]

I still have some experimenting to do in regards to fibreoptic and heatshrink. All the best Tony.

[@JamesSmith-mv9fp]

I can never figure out why people spend money on various types of optical or Digital sensors that cost a lot, to detect trains ? When for the past 40+ years I have needed nothing but a piece of wire connected to a tiny section of the negative rail, which costs ONE PENNY, which will do the same job invisibly ! Which tells me that either these people do not even understand the basic rudimentary's of DC electricity, or are in reality some sort of electronics enthusiast rather than model railway fans !!!

[@TheHeritageLine]

In this day and age a lot of modellers have gone the dcc route and use some form of sensor purely for some sort of automation. It's slowly getting to the point whereby they don't drive the locos anymore but just sit back and watch the show.

[@JamesSmith-mv9fp]

@@TheHeritageLine Oh dear, obviously you didn't quite understand what I wrote in my above Post. I am a Railway Mechanical Engineer, & way back in the early 1970's I and a senior BR Signalling Engineer, developed a method of shrinking the real railways "Interlocking" (the important part of signalling) into a miniaturised wiring version of the BR Solid State Interlocking (SSI) real railway methods. Which ensure the continuous "moving interface" between trains & the signalling. This was done so we could dispense with the then childish methods of wiring model railways ! DCC is simply a digitised form of those early methods, as it was invented by a British Electrical Engineer who had NO qualifications or understanding of real Railways ! So DCC cannot comply with any real railway methods. Being Digital it actually prevents you from complying as you cannot alter the wiring printed on a chip !!! My ONE PENNY "Track circuits" are therefore used to "trigger" latching relays, just as in real life. Which ensure my signals change to red as a train passes, change to yellow once that train has fully passed the next signal, & then green when the train has fully passed the 2nd signal ahead. They also interlock the points with the signals to ensure the correct route is shown on the signal, or lock it at Red. To do all this real life automation requires 3 x ONE PENNY "Track circuits" & 3 x 50p 4 switch latching relays per signal section. Total cost per signal section = £1.57 ! And there's no DCC chip that can EVER do all that, for the simple reason the manufacturer would have to produce a chip to suit your layouts specific track plan, which is commercially impossible ! So why do Modellers waste a fortune on ludicrous DCC equipment that actually prevents you from operating any layout realistically ??????

[@TheHeritageLine]

@@JamesSmith-mv9fp I love the idea of interlocking signals and yes I see what you are getting at with regards to dcc preventing realistic movements, but unfortunately some modellers will use there trains to activate signals rather than the signals controlling the trains and maybe just have the odd signal like in the station throats operated by hand. I suppose not all modellers have the know how on how to do things properly, and are happy in buying of the shelf products that give them a simulation of what looks right to them.